According to Ilya Zakharevich:
Chip Salzenberg writes:
However, any given application of multiple-metadata can be adequately
achieved with single-metadata if that metadata is allowed to have
arbitrarily complex structure, and I think we can achieve that.
What structure? Emacs can have an arbitrary hash associated to any
char. Tk can have arbitrary number of bits associated to any char,
and an arbitrary hash associated to the ordinal of the bit ....
Thanks for the examples.
The only things I'm quite sure of is that metadata should be allowed
to have strings for names (is that true of Emacs? it seems not), not
just numbers (so the Tk scheme isn't good enough); and that creation
and modification of metadata should be allowed to include attachment
of arbitrary Perl constructs (hashes, arrays, whatever) to the metadata.
I haven't thought much beyond that.
After all, you add stuff to the RE language all the time when
it serves your interests.
No, I only add them if they serve *your* purposes.
Touche'.
--
Chip Salzenberg - a.k.a. -
<chip(_at_)perlsupport(_dot_)com>
"... under cover of afternoon in the biggest car in the county?!" //MST3K
